The Trail of Leo Wyatt
by Aurora Nightstar
Summary: Soon after the Chris is saved and sent back to the future, the charmed ones learn of Leo going on trial for Gideon's murder. Chris comes back, this time to safe his father. Meanwhile, Barbus has a few tricks up his sleeve.


  
  
Everyone had only just returned home from the hospital. Piper and Leo were in the kitchen. Leo held on tight to Baby Chris. "We are not letting him die at 22, Piper," Leo declared. He just would not let go of Baby Chris.   
  
"It isn't your fault, Leo," Piper said quietly.  
  
"And I don't want him growing up hating me either," Leo babbled on.   
  
"That won't happen!" Piper agreed, determination in her voice.  
  
"I'm not going to be an absent father! I'm going to be here when he or Wyatt needs me!"  
  
Leo continued to ramble.  
  
Suddenly they both heard Phoebe scream for Leo. Piper grabbed Wyatt, and they both ran upstairs. When they joined Phoebe and Paige, they both looked on, stunned. "I thought you said he disappeared!" Piper looked disbelievingly at Leo.   
  
"He did disappear!" Leo insisted, just as stunned as Piper, staring at his son.  
  
"LEO!" screamed Phoebe. "HELP!"  
  
Her words galvanized Leo and he thrust Baby Chris at Paige and ran to the side of his son. He grabbed his wrist to check for a pulse.   
  
"Forget that, Leo, just heal him!" Paige rattled off impatiently, squeezing Baby Chris so hard that he started to cry.   
  
Leo put his hands over Chris, but although his hands turned golden, Chris didn't. Leo looked at the others, devastation in his eyes. "It is no use. He's already dead!" and a tear rolled down his cheek.  
  
"Leo!" Piper insisted. "He is our son; don't give up!"  
  
Tears were now rolling freely down Leo's cheek as he choked out, "Piper, you know I can't heal the dead! I wish I could, but I can't!"  
  
Suddenly Wyatt orbed out of his mother's arms. "What the hell?" cried Piper.   
  
Wyatt reappeared, this time in his father's arms. Taking one of his father's hands, he put his other one over his brother. "Kwis," he said. Much as when Paige helped Leo heal Cole, both Leo's and Wyatt's hands turned golden. Suddenly Chris' chest turned golden and it began to move. As father and son continued to hold their hands over their son/brother, the golden sparkles spread to completely envelope Chris. Suddenly Chris' eyes opened as he began to chokingly breathe. Leo grabbed him and held him tightly, while Wyatt cried out, "KWIS!", and Piper, Phoebe and Paige let go of their held breaths, hugging each other in joy.  
  
Chris looked at the others and weakly asked, "What happened?"  
  
"You passed out?" Leo said, questioningly.   
  
"Yeah, we thought you were dead," Paige added.   
  
"Then you disappeared," Leo told him. "We thought you were gone."  
  
"Disappeared? What, again?" Chris looked on shocked.  
  
"What do you mean again?" Leo could not believe this actually happened before, and he didn't know anything about it.  
  
"Of course!" Phoebe exclaimed, as the realization hit her "Because Piper almost lost the baby!"   
  
"What is this about Chris disappearing before?" Piper wanted to know.  
  
"What! Mom almost lost the baby? Me!" Chris repeated, looking at Phoebe, still confused.  
  
"She had a rough time," Paige told him. "We thought we were going to lose both of you."  
  
Piper grimaced and crossed her arms as nobody was answering her question.  
  
"But don't worry, you are fine now!"" cried Phoebe as she grabbed Baby Chris from Paige and held him up for Chris to see. "Aren't you cute!!! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!" Phoebe turned Baby Chris toward her again and smiled as she continued to talk in baby talk at him.  
  
"Oh, I really got to get out of here," Chris grumbled at Phoebe's baby talk, rolling his eyes in mock disgust. Then he grew serious again and asked, "Still, one thing I don't get. Leo couldn't heal me before!" He looked at his father. "How did you do it?"  
  
"With help from my little buddy," Leo prideful picked up Wyatt.   
  
Chris got up. He looked at Wyatt. Wyatt reached his hands toward Chris, "Kwis!"  
  
Leo passed Wyatt off to Chris. "But I am supposed to be protecting you," protested Chris feebly, the sound of delight and a bit of wounded pride evident in his voice.  
  
"Now that Gideon is out of the way, and Wyatt is safe, we just have to find a way to get Chris back to his own time," Leo declared. "To a much different time, I'm sure!"  
  
"Why don't we just use the same spell Grams wrote when we got trapped in the seventies?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Why don't we explain to Piper about Chris disappearing before?" Piper grumbled.   
  
"What spell?" Paige grimaced at Phoebe, having no idea what she was talking about.  
  
"A time for everything," Phoebe began, smiling at Piper.  
  
Piper joined in. "And everything in its place,  
  
Return what has been moved  
  
Through time and space."  
  
Chris disappeared to everyone's delight, tempered by the sorrow of seeing him go.  
  
"Would someone please explain about Chris disappearing before?" Piper demanded.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Piper," Phoebe said as she continued to giggle at Baby Chris.   
  
"You two almost didn't conceive him in time," Paige told them, her cheeks pink.  
  
Leo rolled his eyes. "I told him to tell us if he was in trouble. Why didn't he?"  
  
"I don't know, Leo," Piper blurted out. "He was probably too embarrassed to talk to his parents about that, especially because at that time, we didn't know we were his parents!" and Paige and Phoebe both nodded.  
  
A few moments later, Chris reappeared.  
  
"What happened?" Leo asked. "Was the future worse?"  
  
"No," Chris told them. "I never made it to the future at all. It was as if I were orbing, and when I stopped, I was right back here again."  
  
"I think we need the Power of Three," Piper suggested, smiling at Paige. "Remember, Phoebs, Little Prue and Little Piper had to join Embryo Phoebe in order to make it work." Phoebe nodded, so Piper began writing the spell down for Paige.  
  
"Wait!" cried Leo. "Let me get that potion first so Chris has a way to come back if anything goes wrong." The others nodded, so Leo orbed to the Magic School, grabbed some of that potion and orbed back in.   
  
He handed the potion to his son. "Good luck," Leo hugged Chris in one of the most heartfelt hugs Chris ever remembered receiving from his father. "Remember, if anything is wrong or if nothing has changed, just come back and we'll fix it, OK?"  
  
"OK," Chris said with a big smile. "Thanks, Dad." Then he turned to the others. "I love you, Mom! I love you, Auntie Paige! I love you, Auntie Phoebs! I love you, Wyatt. Thank you for helping me save my future." He smiled at the Charmed Ones. "OK, do it!"  
  
"A time for everything  
  
And everything in its place.  
  
Return what had been moved  
  
Through time and space," and Piper, Phoebe and Paige cast the spell.  
  
Leo looked down at the floor.   
  
"What is it?" Piper put her arm around Leo. "I am going to miss him, too, Leo."  
  
"Yeah, me too!" Leo just shrugged it off.  
  
"That is not it; it is something else," Phoebe said.  
  
"Are you getting your empathy powers back?" Paige asked.  
  
"No, it is just intuition," Phoebe stated.  
  
"Yeah, she is right," Leo admitted. "This will sound stupid, but he just said I love you to everyone here, everyone but me!"  
  
"No, that doesn't sound stupid," Phoebe tried to comfort him. "He did say thank you to you!"  
  
"Yeah, I know," Leo had no choice but to agree. "It isn't the same. I shouldn't expect too much. He will never say that to me."  
  
"Leo, he came from a very different future then this one is going to have." Piper takes baby Chris from Phoebe.  
  
Just then someone orbed in. "Chris!" Phoebe cried, but as the orbs materialized Phoebe realized it was a very handsome man she had never seen before. (see picture). Both Phoebe and Paige looked over this new white lighter in admiration.   
  
"Is that Chris from even further in the future," Paige asked what everyone was thinking.   
  
Not Leo. "Mitch, what are you doing here?" he asked.  
  
"Leo, the Elders want to see you right away. I am temporarily the Charmed Ones' new whitelighter!" Mitch said.  
  
"That won't be necessary. I am quitting being an elder. I will be their whitelighter," Leo stated.  
  
"That is not up to you!" Mitch said firmly.   
  
Leo suddenly vanished in much the same way he did the first time Leo and Piper tried to get married.   
  
"You make him come back here right now!" Piper demanded.  
  
"Sorry, Piper, but this isn't up to me either. I would do anything I could to help Leo," Mitch told her, sincerity in his voice and tears in his eyes. Then he got mad. "He doesn't deserve this!"  
  
"Doesn't deserve what?" Piper asked, beginning to get pale.  
  
"What the Elders are about to do to him!" Mitch cried, still very upset. "Don't they realize that the only reason they still exist is because of Leo? If it weren't for his actions when the Titans attacked, they would all be dead now! And they are treating him like this.." Mitch said, shaking his head.  
  
That caught all of the sisters' attention and they surrounded Mitch. Piper softened her tone. "What exactly is going on here?" Piper asked gently.  
  
"He is on trial for Gideon's murder," Mitch stated. "And if found guilty he..." Mitch stopped, unable to say it.  
  
"He will what?" Piper demanded, her face now very pale.  
  
"If found guilty, you will be stripped of your whitelighter status, as both guardian and Elder, and your soul will be sent back to earth for recycling," intoned the Chief Elder conducting the trial, glaring at Leo, standing before him.  
  
Leo didn't hear much of anything after that. He just remembered how he once threatened to do that to Chris. He remembered how horribly he had treated Chris since his own return from Valhalla. Based on other things Chris had said, he wasn't a much better parent in the future. So now Chris would go from having a lousy father to no father at all. Leo knew he was guilty, so he figured it was over! He regretted deeply that he would never get another chance with his second son, to get the warm caring father-son relation Piper suggested would happen!  
  
Leo and the Elders were transported to the same courtroom where Phoebe lost her powers. He was thrown on the Circle of Truth, so all could see Gideon's last few moments alive and the part Leo played in it. Leo could barely stand to watch, wishing that they had also shown what they thought were Chris' last moments, so he would at least have some sort of defense.  
  
The sisters and Mitch were discussing what they could do to save Leo, but they knew there wasn't much. Piper had already begun to go into mourning, regretting all the times that she didn't allow Leo back into their lives.  
  
Suddenly Big Chris reappeared at the Manor.  
  
"Chris!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Did you get to the future this time?"   
  
"Oh, yeah! I got there, all right," Chris replied. His face was pale and his hands were trembling.  
  
"What did you find?" Phoebe asked.   
  
"Nothing," Chris said.  
  
"It can't have been nothing, otherwise you wouldn't be back here," Paige reasoned.  
  
Chris shook his head. "I can't tell you," he declared.  
  
Phoebe hugged him, "Yeah, yeah, we know future consequences."  
  
"Yeah, future consequences," Chris agreed.  
  
Paige and Phoebe, even Piper and Mitch, all understood.  
  
"Do you know about your father?" Piper wanted to know.  
  
"Yes, I do. I'm sorry that I was the cause behind it, Mom."  
  
"Honey, it's not your fault! Leo knows that!"  
  
"But was it worth it?" Paige wanted to know. "Was Wyatt still evil?"   
  
"Not exactly, he was..." Chris stopped himself as he knew he would cry if he finished that sentence.   
  
"Are you OK?" Piper asked Chris, her concern and love for her son shining through her fear for her soul mate.  
  
"No! I'm not! Not after what I saw!" Chris thought about it for a few moments, then suddenly cried out, "Oh screw it! There is no possible way the future could get any worse!" he declared. Now that he had made his decision, he told them, "I will just tell all of you everything. Sit down!"  
  
"Who are you, and what did you do with my son?" Piper asked teasingly.  
  
"There used to be at least a few things about the future worth preserving," Chris blurted out, tears in his eyes. "But not anymore!"  
  
All three girls and Mitch, now just as pale as Chris, sat down as Chris instructed and probably for the first time ever, gave Chris their full attention, not saying a word until he finished. As Chris finished his explanation Paige, Piper and Phoebe stood there dumbfounded.  
  
Phoebe turned sheepishly to Mitch. "Do you have any memory dust? I don't think I want to remember that!"   
  
"I have to go stop it," Chris declared. He orbed out.  
  
"What?" Inspector Sheridan asked as she watched Chris in a reflecting pool. "Please tell me that was just one of your delusions!" She turned to Barbus. She saw true fear in his eyes. "Oh my god! It is not!"  
  
Then the fear faded as Barbus thought of a way to use it!  
  
Chris orbed to the top of Golden Gate Bridge. He stayed there for a few brief moments, taking a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm himself down after what he had experienced in the future. He did not wish to experience a mental breakdown in front of his father.  
  
Once he felt that he could keep his emotions to himself, Chris orbed away once more, this time to the courtroom where Leo was on trial. Just as he orbed in, the Council declared Leo Wyatt guilty of the murder of Elder Gideon, and immediately sentenced his soul to be sent back to earth for recycling.   
  
"No! Don't!" Chris screamed.   
  
The Chief Elder glared at him. "This has already been decided! You were not invited here! Leave at once!"   
  
Leo looked up. "Chris?" he asked, confused. "What are you doing back here? Is the future worse?"  
  
Chris didn't answer his father. He continued to beg the Council. "You can not go through with this sentencing!" he begged.  
  
"And why not?" an elder asked. "Because he is your father?"  
  
"No! You do this and everyone here will die within the hour!" Chris warned. "Everyone, except Leo!"  
  
"You are lying!" another elder declared. "Just trying to save your father!" He shoved Chris on the Circle of Truth. "And now I will expose you for the liar you are!"   
  
Leo stood up to race toward Chris. He hated seeing his son shoved like that. "Chris!" Leo yelled, then he glared at the elder. "Leave him alone!"  
  
Chris looked up at Leo, very surprised to see all that concern in his eyes, something he had never seen in his father's eyes before he came back to the past.  
  
"Leo Wyatt," demanded the Chief Elder, "Sit back down right now!"   
  
Afraid that they would also recycle his son's soul, Leo slowly walked back to his seat and sat down, his heart aching for his son.  
  
The Chief Elder turned towards Chris, now standing on the Circle of Truth. "Christopher Halliwell, Leo Wyatt thought you were the one who exiled him to Valhalla. Did you?"  
  
Chris looked away from his father since he knew he was just about to be busted.   
  
"What is your plan?" Inspector Sheridan asked Barbus.   
  
"I will convince the Charmed Ones that they need to bind Baby Wyatt's powers," he explained. "And then his powers will be mine!"  
  
"How will you convince them to do that?" she asked.  
  
"Phoebe is about to have one heck of a premonition," he told her, eyes sparkling evilly.  
  
"But her powers are gone!" she exclaimed.  
  
"I know that and you know that," Barbus declared. "But she will believe she's got her powers back!"  
  
Sheridan's blank expression transformed into a malevolent grin.   
  
"One thing is for certain," Piper declared, determination and fear in her eyes. "If the elders destroy Leo, I am done! No more fighting demons! No more battling evil! That is it! This whole destiny thing is over!" She looked up to the heavens. "You hear me!! That will be it! I'll quit!"  
  
Paige nodded firmly. "I agree. I love being a witch, but not if it means working for beings who would destroy Leo and bring on what Chris saw!"  
  
"Definitely," Phoebe agreed with her sisters. "We'll all quit!"  
  
"The elders are not going to like that," Mitch warned.  
  
"Would us threatening to quit be enough to save Leo?" Piper asked, even though she already knew it would not be.  
  
"We could go to the trial and find out," Mitch suggested. "I could orb you there."  
  
Paige batted her eyes seductively at Mitch. "I would go anywhere with you."  
  
Phoebe rolled her eyes, but admitted to herself her baby sister had good taste. This new whitelighter was incredibly handsome--much more than Jason--and he was so nice and he already knew about their being Charmed. She picked up Baby Wyatt, cuddling him in her arms.  
  
An image came up from the Circle of Truth. He could not watch.   
  
[i] Chris: So, did The Elders decide what to do with me yet?  
  
Leo: Well, you've been the subject of heated discussion. One thing we agreed upon is ... you can't return to the future.  
  
Chris: I figured as much. The timeline's changed. I don't even know what I'd go back to. So ... what'd they decide?  
  
Leo: The Elders voted ... to make you The Charmed Ones' new Whitelighter. (Leo smiles a bit.)  
  
Chris: They did?  
  
Leo: As a reward for helping defeat the Titans. But then ... somehow I figured you knew that. You know, I can't stop thinking about what Piper said and wondering myself if this wasn't part of your plan all along. (Leo looks at Chris.) Take good care of them, Chris. Don't forget ... I'll be watching over you.  
  
(Leo orbs out. As his orb lights rise to the sky, Chris waves his hand and blasts Leo's orbs out of the sky. The last of the orb lights disappear into nothing. Unconcerned, Chris looks around for a moment. He takes a deep breath and stands up. He climbs up the stairs and heads back into the Manor. He opens the front door and walks inside. With a wave of his hand, he telekinetically shuts the front door behind him.) [/i]  
  
Leo watched the projection, and his eyes fell on Chris who was so-deliberately avoiding eye contact. Yeah, just what I want before I die, he thought, to be reminded of just how much my son hates me.  
  
Now he turned to glare at the elders. "What is the point of this?" he demanded.   
  
"Just to discredit him as a liar," the Chief Elder declared. "Now, let's see, how did Leo handle facing Chris in Valhalla?"  
  
Immediately another image appeared from the Circle of Truth.  
  
[i] Leo kicks the shield up into Chris' arms, then charges at Chris with the sword, swinging and forcing Chris to protect himself. Leo hits the shield. Chris falls down under the shield as he picks up the sword. They fight. With ease, Leo strikes Chris down to the ground.)  
  
Chris (panting): I didn't do it.  
  
(Chris tries to stand up, Leo kicks the sword out from his hand and across the cage floor. Chris goes after the sword, Leo's right on top of him. Leo has Chris down on the ground with the tip of his sword at his neck.)  
  
Chris : You can't kill me. I'm a Whitelighter.  
  
Leo (softly): No? Then why are you sweating? I'm gonna find out the truth. I'm gonna find out who did this to me, I promise. Right now, we're gonna go catch up with Phoebe and Paige and have a little chat with the Elders.  
  
(Leo pulls Chris up to his feet.) [/i]  
  
"Interesting! Looks like the incident with Elder Gideon is not the first time Leo Wyatt took matters into his own hands." an elder noted. The other elders all nodded sagely. "Even back then, he had forgotten that we are supposed to save the innocent, not punish the guilty!"  
  
Chris tried hard to suppress all his emotions. He looked over at the elders, while avoiding Leo's gaze.  
  
"And Chris is your son too!" the Chief Elder added in disgust. "You parent like that, and you think it was Elder Gideon that turned Wyatt evil?"  
  
"NO!" screamed both Leo and Chris, hurt to their cores.  
  
"I am now more convinced then ever that we are making the right decision," another elder added.   
  
Leo glared at them. "First, Chris is not on trial, I am! Second what is the point of discrediting him as a liar when he is standing on the Circle of Truth? There is no way that he can lie! This is all pointless," Leo declared.  
  
Chris stared, stunned by what his father that his father was standing up for him, even after he had been convicted.   
  
"I couldn't agree more," the elder said. "The decision has already been made."  
  
"Yeah, but you are making a huge mistake!" Chris warned.  
  
"Says you," another elder chided.  
  
"Says the future!" Chris retorted, a hint of his usual smirk on his face.  
  
"We already know that you are a liar!" another elder reminded him. "Why should we listen to you?"  
  
"Well he is standing on the Circle of Truth;" Leo reminded him. "He cannot lie now," Then Leo turned to his son. "Show us the future!" he commanded.  
  
Another image projected on the screen.  
  
[i] (Chris arrives back in the future. He orbs to a home.)  
  
Chris (yelling): "Grandpa!  
  
(He hears no reply. He walks into a room and finds a skeleton of a man dressed in tattered clothing. Chris fights back a tear as he orbs away.) [/i]  
  
The Chris in the court room looked away, also fighting back a tear. But the projection continued relentlessly.  
  
[i] (Chris orbs to top of Golden Gate Bridge. He looks down at the empty bridges below.  
  
Chris (wonderingly): Where is everybody? (Concentrating, trying to use his sensing powers. Muttering): This should work. Leo once taught me how to do this. I should be able to sense someone. This can't be right!  
  
(He orbs to the attic of the Manor. He sets out the crystals in the shape of a pentagram, then goes to the Book of Shadows and finds a spell..   
  
Chris (reciting): Hear these words, hear my cry,  
  
Spirit from the other side,  
  
Come to me, I summon thee,  
  
Cross now the great divide,"   
  
(Ghostly lights begin forming in the middle of the pentagram)  
  
Chris (muttering): I hope this doesn't get Wyatt's attention,  
  
(Future Wyatt appears in the center of the pentagram, that same smirk of evil that we last saw on his face after he killed Bianca still there.)  
  
Chris (in shock) Wyatt?! But how? [/i]  
  
The Chris sitting on the circle of truth remembered what was coming next. "Turn this off!" he begged. "Please!"  
  
But the projection just continued.  
  
[i] Wyatt (smirking): "How did I what? Die?" (Chris nods) "Our father killed me!" [/i]  
  
Leo shot to his feet as those words stung. "What!? I murdered my own son?" Leo yelled, his whole being aching. "I accept the punishment! Turn it off!"  
  
Then he turned towards his son, thinking, What? Chris actually tried to protect me from hearing that? "Chris! Step off that Circle right now!"  
  
"No!" Chris screamed.  
  
"Chris, I deserve to be here," Leo told him miserably. "I did exactly what they are accusing me of doing."   
  
"Keep watching," Chris cried, agony in his own voice, not wanting them to see the rest, but knowing he had to let them all know. "Keep it going! You must find out the rest! You ALL must find out the rest!"  
  
And the projection continued.  
  
[i] Chris (half-laughing): No, really, how did you die? Leo wouldn't do that.  
  
Wyatt (with a smirk): Oh, but he did, little brother!   
  
Chris: Where are all the people? I tried sensing and got nothing! My senses must not be working.  
  
Wyatt (with a bigger smirk): Actually your powers are working perfectly!! (Chris looks up stunned.) That is right, little brother; there are no people left! After I killed the last of them, Leo killed me and then he killed himself!  
  
Chris (in shock) NO!  
  
Wyatt (Demanding): Orb your ass back to the past and fix it, little brother, or I will haunt you for the rest of your life!  
  
Chris (shaking his head): OK, OK... But can you tell me what happened?  
  
Wyatt: Sure! Those good-for-nothing elders decided put Leo on trial for killing some other stupid elder! Can you believe it? They were going to recycle his soul. (Shakes his head) Stupid elders! Anyway, I sensed Leo was in danger, so I orbed up there and saved him! (Evil grin) It took less then an hour and Leo was the only elder left!!!  
  
Chris: (Apathetically) I see.  
  
Wyatt: Well, that was so much fun, that I just couldn't stop killing!! Twenty years later, Leo and I were the only two still here. (Shaking his head) He really thought he could turn me back to good until the very end. (Demanding tone) I don't care how you do it! I don't care how long it takes, just go back and fix this right now! It's no fun killing when there's no one to kill!  
  
Chris: (Nodds) I will try! (Chris pulls out a potion) In more ways than one--you will not kill!  
  
Wyatt: What's that?  
  
Chris: A gift from dad.  
  
Wyatt: You know, I shouldn't be leaving this to you. Ghosts can possess people! (Ghost Wyatt steps out of the pentagram. Chris glances over at the wall and noticed a triquetra already drawn on the wall. He tosses the potion at the wall and ran throw the portal. Ghost Wyatt follows, but gets a zap as he tries to pass.)  
  
The projection ends. [/i]  
  
Everyone was totally stunned, and nobody could say a word.  
  
"You are having a premonition!" Barbus declared.   
  
Phoebe saw a flash of Baby Wyatt disintegrating the elders.   
  
"Oh my god! I think I got my powers back," Phoebe rambled excitedly.   
  
"You did?" Mitch asked.  
  
"Yeah," Phoebe said. "I just got a premonition!"  
  
"That is great!" Mitch cried. "Leo must have done or said something that convinced the elders to give them back to you! So, what did you see?"  
  
"Chris is right!" she exclaimed. "Wyatt is going to kill the elders!"  
  
"You need to bind his powers," Barbus said.  
  
"Perhaps we should reconsider binding his powers," Phoebe suggested. "Just as a precaution."  
  
"What? No!" Piper protested.   
  
"Piper, think about it!" Phoebe begged. "Remember what Chris said. Wyatt killing the elders will only be the beginning..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Piper said, rubbing her temples against the headache that was beginning to brew.  
  
"We already discussed this idea," Paige reminded her sisters, and then insisted, "It was a bad idea then; it is a bad idea now!"  
  
"That was before you know what kind of monster Wyatt would turn out to be," Barbus said.  
  
"But, then again, that was before we knew what kind of monster Wyatt would turn out to be," Paige added.  
  
"Chris knew," Phoebe said. "He has always known,"  
  
"Yeah, Piper, maybe Chris was right," Paige added.  
  
"I don't like the idea of binding my baby's powers," Piper said. "I couldn't bind Melinda's powers in that other future; I can't bind Wyatt's now."  
  
"But binding his powers is better then your son being responsible for what is about to happen," Barbus said.  
  
"But then I don't like my son being responsible for all those death either," Piper added.  
  
All three sisters looked at each, thought about it, then nodded at one another.  
  
"OK, we will do it," Piper declared.  
  
"Are you sure that is such a good idea?" Mitch asked. "You heard what Chris said. If Wyatt loses his powers, Leo is dead."  
  
"Better one death than billions," Barbus said, his eyes sparkling malevolently.  
  
"Better one death then billions," Phoebe retorted. "This is for the greater good!"  
  
"Now you're sounding like Gideon," grumbled Mitch.  
  
Piper looked at her sister. "No matter how you sugarcoat it, it still sucks, but we are doing this!"  
  
The other two nodded and Mitch stayed quiet. So Phoebe brought Baby Wyatt over to Piper, while she picked up some string. Phoebe held out Wyatt's hand and Piper wrapped it around it while she chanted:  
  
"I take your hands in mine  
  
And with this string I will entwine  
  
Your powers I'll forever bind  
  
From now until the end of time."  
  
Piper, Paige and Phoebe read aloud. At that moment, Barbus impatiently waited for his opportunity to steal Baby Wyatt's powers.  
  
Chris finally broke the silence. "So, can I get off this Circle of Truth now, please?" he requested politely.  
  
"Uh, yeah!" the Chief Elder agreed, so Chris stepped off the Circle of Truth.  
  
"Let's just get the Charmed Ones to bind Wyatt's powers," suggests another elder. "If he does not have his powers, he cannot kill."  
  
"And why would the Charmed Ones agree?" the Chief Elder asked.  
  
The elder gave an almost malevolence smirk. "Offer Phoebe her powers back in exchange. We will just fail to mention the part about killing Leo!"  
  
"No!" cried Chris. "I know from my original past--without Leo to help guide Wyatt, he will become evil, powers or no powers! You must let him return to the Charmed Ones!" and Leo stared at his son in shock.  
  
Baby Wyatt looked at his bottle, still in his playpen and orbed it to him.  
  
"It didn't work," Mitch exclaimed happily.  
  
"Try a potion," Barbus said.  
  
"I could use a potion, like the one I used on Cole," Paige suggested.   
  
"Last time you did that, Barbus ended up with Cole's powers!" Phoebe reminded her.  
  
"Wait a minute, how do we know that isn't what is going on now?" Piper wondered.  
  
"Right and we know Barbus is still around!" Paige added.  
  
"Right," Phoebe agreed. "How do we know Barbus isn't manipulating things so he can steal Wyatt's powers?"  
  
The Chief Elder nodded. "Besides, try to deceive the Charmed Ones? I think not. We are not demons! No!!"  
  
"Perhaps we were being a bit hasty," another elder admitted sheepishly. "We will just strip Leo of his elder and whitelighter status and make him mortal. Then he can be with his family, but will not be able to use his powers to punish the guilty again."  
  
The other elders nodded. With the wave of the Chief Elder's hand, this was done. "Good-bye, Leo Wyatt. You will not be allowed here again," and all the elders orbed out leaving Leo and Chris alone.  
  
Chris still wouldn't look Leo in the eye. "Let me take you back to the girls, OK?" Chris asked, holding out his hand. "They are very worried about you."  
  
"Let's talk first," Leo requested. "Please?"   
  
Chris sighed. "About what? How I screwed up again?" He dreaded this rehashing of the Valhalla scene.   
  
"Screwed up?" Leo looked at his son in shock. "You just saved me. I want to thank you!"  
  
"You call that saving?" Chris protested. "You lost your powers!"  
  
"I would have died!" Leo exclaimed, shaking his head, still unable to believe that he would be allowed to live. "Don't you understand? Without your help, I would have never seen Piper or Wyatt or Baby you again! Now I can go back and reclaim my family. Thank you for giving them back to me."  
  
"No!" cried Chris, unable to accept that he had done such a wonderful thing. "Wyatt would have saved you. Weren't you watching?"  
  
"You don't get it, Chris, do you? With that information, you just as easily could have convinced the girls to bind Wyatt's powers. If it meant saving the world, they would do it, too! But, for some unknown reason, you choose to come up here and save me!" Leo insisted.  
  
"What, and let you die?" Chris shook his head. "Think whatever you want about me, but I never wanted you dead."  
  
"What I think? What I think is that you are my son, and I love you, whether or not  
  
you ever love me back," Leo told him, tears in his eyes.  
  
"What?" Chris looked Leo in the eye for the first time since they watched the projection showing him exiling his father to Valhalla. He couldn't believe the look in his father's eyes.  
  
There was an awkward moment of silence.   
  
Leo gave a heavy sigh. "Let's just go home."   
  
"I am sorry," Chris apologized. "It is just you never said that before."  
  
"Never said what?" Leo asked.  
  
Chris' face went red and he looked down at his feet. "You never said you loved me to  
  
me before," he muttered.  
  
"You are kidding?" Leo now sounded just as shocked as Chris.  
  
"No, I am not." Then he looked up and smiled. "I love you, too, Dad!" and Chris hugged Leo tightly, as his father hugged him back.   
  
"I already told the girls about what I saw in the future," Chris informed Leo.  
  
"You told them?" Leo asked in surprise.   
  
"Yeah, everything!" Chris admitted sheepishly.  
  
"Everything?" Leo questioned, concerned about how the girls would react to the news that he had been the one who killed Wyatt.  
  
"Yeah, everything except the part about you killing Wyatt," Chris said as he looked at his shoes. "They didn't need to know that. I am sorry you had to see that!"  
  
"I appreciate your not telling them, thanks," Leo responded with a smile.  
  
Chris smiled, too, glad that that was out of the way. "C'mon! Let's go home!"  
  
Leo nodded, and Chris took his hand and orbed them both home to the Manor.  
  
They orbed into the conservatory, "Un...Mitch, hi," Chris greeted.  
  
"Leo, thank god!!" Mitch cried, cracking smile.   
  
"So, what went on up there?" Piper asked, concerned. "Are you OK?"  
  
"They saw the future Chris went back to and decided to let me off with just stripping my powers." Leo turned to Mitch. "You're the girls' whitelighter now, Mitch." Then he turned to Piper, hopeful pleading in hie eyes. "Because now I'll just be your husband and the boys' father, so I hope you don't mind me being around the Manor more."   
  
"YOU ARE KIDDING?" Piper ran and jumped and threw her arms around Leo's neck, her legs around his chest. Leo happily threw his arm around her and began to kiss her, first lightly, then more passionately.  
  
Chris let out a brief sigh of relief because Leo hadn't mention the Valhalla thing. Then he looked away as his parents began making out.  
  
"Get a room," Phoebe teased with a laugh.   
  
"Good idea!" Leo grinned, and keeping his arms wrapped around Piper while she kept her arms and legs wrapped around him, their mouths once more fused together, he began climbing the stairs.  
  
"But what about.." Chris started to say. His tone dropped as he realized he was too late. "Sending me back," he said in a small voice.  
  
"Looks like you will have to wait," Phoebe told Chris, grinning. "Your parents are getting busy!!"   
  
"Thanks, I didn't need that image in my head," Chris retorted.   
  
"Hey, there's plenty of time to send you back! Don't you understand, Chris? You did it! You saved the future!! Tonight we party!" Phoebe cried. "P3, here we come!"  
  
"You come, too," Paige smiled seductively at Mitch.   
  
"If you insist," Mitch replied, oblivious to the obvious lusty glances Paige was shooting at him.   
  
Two elders stood together, chatting. "Oh, don't you worry; we will take care of him  
  
soon enough," one of them said. "You send a stud like that to three sluts and one of  
  
them is bound to take the bait!"   
  
The two elders looked into the reflecting pool, watching Paige and Mitch dancing  
  
together at P3.  
  
Chris and Phoebe sat a booth. Phoebe rambled on and on about finding the father of her child. Chris paid no attention to her. He just listened to the music and thought about everything he went through with Leo.   
  
His mother would be pleased at the turnout. The club was packed, since Metalica was there that night.  
  
"So close, no matter how far,  
  
Couldn't be much more from the heart,  
  
Forever trusting who we are,  
  
And nothing else matters,  
  
Never opened myself this way,  
  
Life is ours, we live it our way,  
  
All these words, I don't just say,  
  
And nothing else matters,  
  
Trust I seek and I find in you,  
  
Every day for us something new,  
  
Open mind for a different view,  
  
And nothing else matters." 


End file.
